Hi, i was wondering if anyone noticed a bulge on the back of their tablet portion of the surface book. It almost feels like a distortion in the casing due to heat. If i used my hands and slid it across the lower area (below the windows logo) i can feel a slight bump. It seems to be permanent now, and I don't believe this was there before.

Do i have a defective unit? or is this normal because of the heat?

I also noticed my surface book can get up to 80~84 degrees (HWMonitor) while running on high performance mode and playing games. Is this normal?

I got my surfacebook yesterday and i am quite sad about this. Thanks the help.

Hi there,
I just checked mine (i7/16gB/512GB) and I didn't notice a bulge. Is it noticeable by eye or do you need to really press it hard to feel it?
The tablet center does indeed tend to get hot under load but I didn't test it in games yet so I'm not sure if it's normal or not.

If it's noticeable perhaps post a picture here? Take it from the side of the tablet thus showing it in profile to see if there's any bumps on it.

If you lay it on a flat surface like a granite countertop does it rock. if there is a bulge it should not be stable laying flat.

The case may have had a bulge before it was assembled. I am skeptical that there is enough heat generated to create a bulge in the case, I think that would require temperatures well in excess of normal operating range.

I too have noticed a slight bulge on the back of the tablet portion of my SB, but not enough to cause it to "rock" while in use. I never did think it to be heat related, but rather more a manufacturing "feature". What concerns me a bit more is the is the very slight difference (gap) between the tablet-keyboard fit on the right hand side (near the latch mechanism) than on the left. My SB had never been over-stressed there but I do admit that I usually pull up the tablet from the right hand top side after getting the green light and "click" from the detach key. Maybe 1/32" or less. I also notice that the "mouse buttons" that are part of the left and right bottom of the touch pad are no longer just on the bottom but I can activate them up to 3/4ths of the way to the top of the touch pad and they click and work just fine. Neither of these issues cause trouble or interfere, but I will trudge up to the Bellevue MSFT Store and ask if this is normal. Just want to avoid future troubles.

So i went in and exchanged my surface book yesterday, and it seems like all the surface books in the Microsoft store also has a slight bump. Even the new one i received has it. It might just be my OCD for even noticing it, but i just hope it doesn't become anything serious in the future after constant use.

I have the i5/8/256/dGPU, but there's no bump or dent on the back of the clipboard. I do have that little "sticky" noise on my SB that some have reported when pushing up on the bottom of the keyboard in certain places...kind of a popping where the case will momentarily stick to some glue inside then let go. None of this is a defect from any functional stanpoint.

If you look at the teardown:Microsoft Surface Book Teardown
It looks like that is where the processor is getting pressed against the cabinet as a heatsink. So yes, it is easily going to be the warmest spot with a slight bulge. My i7/256/dGPU also has it. I can't see it, but I can barely feel it.
Non-issue for me.